Eye shield



Oct. 3, 1944. G. MILLER, JR

- EYE SHIELD Filed Aug. 26, 1941 Patented 0a. 3,1944

Gray Miller, Jr., Southbridge, Mass; James 0.. Gahan, Jr., Belmont, Mass, administrator of said Gray Miller, Jr., deceased, assignor to P0- laroid Corporation, D

of Delaware Application August 26, i941,

' 6 Claims.

' In my Patent No. 2,192,092 for -Eye shield granted February 27, 1940, there is disclosed an eye shield which is arranged to conform to the face of the wearer belowthe eyes and to be spaced away from the face along its upper edge along the forehead of the wearer. This is for the purpose of providing proper ventilation so that the shielddoes not cloud or fog in use and air currents are effective to maintain unimpaired vision and produce comfort and adequate protection to the eyes.

The present invention relates to eye shields of thesame general type and has'for certain objects over, Del., a corporation Serial No. 408,357.

I engage beneath the eyes with the wearer's cheeks.

to improve the fit of the shield to the face and to add to the wearer's comfort. More particularly this invention provides against the possibility of the shieldslipping relative to the face of the wearer, as by wind pressure or other fortuitous causes and in itsv more highly developed forms provides a shaping which tends to equalize the pressure on theface, and thus adds to the wearers comfort, and to prevent any tendency of wind pressure to distort the shield and introduce undesirable reflections from its, inner surface.

In accordance with the present invention, therefore; the shield is provided with a spacer or spacers of substantially less width than the Preferably, and in order to present a soft surface for contacting with the face, this lower edge, including the edges of the notch, are provided with an edge piece 3 of some soft material such as light leather, or the like. If desired, also, the. upper edge and the ends also may be provided with a similar edging 4 to act asa finish andfif desired the edging may be folded to enclose therein a spring wire 5 (see Figure 2) as shown in my application Serial No. 329,189, filed April 11, 1940, for Eyeshields, now Patent No. 2,337,617, issued December 28, 1943. Where such a spring wire is used, it acts to shape the body portion to the desired contour and may be so formed as to hold the body portion in such position as to prevent the formation of undesired shield which engage the face of the wearer and Further objects and advantages will appear from a more complete description ofcertain embodiments of the invention shown in the accompanying drawing in which a Figure l is aninsi'de' elevation of an eye shield embodying certain" features of the invention. v Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but showing a modification. I I

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan .view of the structure shown in Figure 1 in place on the wearer's-face. 1 1 Figure 4 is a detail section on line H c Figure 1, but showing the shield in use.

Figure 5 is a -detail section on line'I-i of Figure 6- is a side elevation of a center spacing member.

Referring first to Figures 1, 3 n the eye shield comprises a body portion I of transparent reflections on the inner face of the body member. Adjacent to opposite side edges of the body member 'means such as strap membersj may be provided for securing the shield about the wear ers head. J

In order to prevent the shield from slipping from the face of the wearer,'as by the force of winds or other fortuitous forces, means are provided in accordance with this invention for sup-, .porting the shield above its lower edge spaced a desired extent from the wearer's face. Such means maydirectly engage the face of the wearer V and presentjrelatively soft friction material which will hold the shield'firmly where it belongs and withcomfort to the wearer. Such means may be'arranged in .widely spacedrelation around the margin of the body member above its lower edge. 'As shown in Figures 1 and 2, for'example, there may be a pair of side spacing elements I! and a centraltop element II. The side spacing elements ID, as shown in Figure 5, are of general wedge shape having their thinner ends located toward the lower edge of the body portion and their thicker ends located higher up onthe, shield. While these spacing elements may be made in various forms and of various materials, avery satisfactory material is sponge rubber, and as shown wedge shaped blocks of this rubber are employed for this purpose. They are of sub-. stantially less width than the bodyomemberand flexible sheet material quite similar in general may be suitably attached to the inner face of the body member adjacent to its side edges so as to engage the wearer's face and act to space the upper portion of the shield on each side forwardly from the wearer's face to form the desiredventilating openings of substantial lengths between the face of the wearer and the back face of the body member. The central spacer l I may be similarly formed and applied to the back or inner face of the body member substantially centrally above the notch 2 so as to engage the forehead of the wearer and act as a spacer to locate the central upper edge portion of the shield spaced forwardly of the wearer's forehead and form ventilating openings of substantial lengths on either side of the spacer.

There is also another important result attained by the use of the spacing elements, aside from ventilation. It is desirable that the lower edge portion of the shield lie close against the face in order to provide the largest possible field of vision. Under such conditions, unless the wearer has deep set eyes, contact of the upper edge of the shield with the forehead brings the shield so near to the eyes as to provide insufilcient clearance for the eyelashes. It is, of course, desirable to provide a shield suitable for the largest possible number of users regardless of variations in specific facial contours. By spacing the upper edge of the shield forwardly of the forehead, therefore, the same shield design may be employed for a larger number of people, while maintaining the maximum downward field of vision.

In some cases it may be desired to make the shield in sucha manner that it may be folded or collapsed for ease in carrying when it is not desired for use. Such a construction is shown in Figure 2 wherein the body portion comprises a pair of side parts l5 and I6 whichare hinged together centrally as at ll. Such hinge connection may comprise zigzag stitching connecting marginal portions, preferably overlaid with an edging material such as leather, and applied to the adjacent edges of the parts l5 and I6. Where such an arrangement is employed, it is highly important to use a central spacing block H and in order that this central spacing block may be brought into substantially the plane of the parts l5 and I6 when they are folded together and yet be held in proper position as a spacer when the parts l5 and I6 are opened and applied to the wearer's head, this central block maybe attached to the hinge portion as by being engaged by the zigzag stitches, or by any other suitable means, and it is of sufiicient width so that when the parts and [6 are unfolded and brought into operative position, both these side portions I5 and I6 engage with the fiat forward face of the block II and thus hold it projecting backwardly in position to act properly as a spacer between the upper portion of the eye shield and the wearer's forehead.

The upper edges of the body may be provided with the spring wires ,5 to tend to retain them in the desired curvatures but with capa'biity of being pressed out substantially flat for compactness in folding, each of the portions l5 and It being provided with its own individual spring wire. Where the body portion is in one piece a single spring wire extending across its entire upper portion would be used. a

While it is preferred to employ the spacers at the sides as well as at the upper middle portion, it should be understood that one or more of these spacers may be omitted or they might nection with the central spacer H.

be otherwise arranged without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention. Preferably as shown best in Figures 4 and 6. the upper spacer member II has its lower face upwardly and outwardly inclined as at 20 so that it may not act unduly to impede the upward .vision of the wearer.

If desired, the spacer members may be so formed as to be readily removable from the body member. Such a construction is illustrated in con- This spacer may have molded into or otherwise secured thereto an end portion 2| of a spring clip 22, the

outer free end portion 23 of which may be enof the body member as by a normally fiat stiffening strip 25 (Figure 1) where this body member is arranged as a single piece. Such a stiffener will tend to preserve the desired spacing between the upper portion of the shield and the head of the wearer between the side spacing elements ill but a spring wire having an inherent curvature of the proper amount is preferred for best results.

From the foregoing description of certain embodiments of this invention, it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An eye shield comprising a transparent sheet material body portion having a notch in its lower edge to engage about the nose of the wearer and with its lower edges on opposite sides of said notch shaped to engage with the wearers face beneath the eyes, means engaging the body portionadjacent to opposite ends for securin the eye shield to the head of the wearer, and an element secured to and projecting rearwardly from the inner face of said body portion adjacent the upper edge thereof, said element being of substantially less width laterally than the lateral width of said body portion and serving to space the upper margin of said body portion from the wearers forehead and thereby to provide ventllating spaces on either side of said element.

2. An eye shield comprising a transparent sheet material body portion having a notch in its lower edge to engage about the nose ofthe wearer and with its lower edges on opposite sides of said notch shaped to engage with thewearers face beneath the eyes, means engaging the body portion adjacent to opposite ends for securing the eye shield to the head of the wearer, and elements secured to said body portion widely spaced around its margin about its upper edge and extending rearwardly in position to engage the face of the wearer and retain said margin spaced forwardly of the wearer's face and defining therewith ventilating openings of substantial lengths.

' 3. An eye shield comprising a transparent sheet material body portion havinga notch in its lower edge to engage about the nose of the wearer and with its lower edges on opposite sides of said notch shaped to engage with the wearer's face beneath the eyes, means engaging the body portion adjacent to opposite ends for securing the eye shield to the head of the wearer, and widely spaced wedge shaped elements carried by said body portion on its inner face adjacent to its side edges, the thinner portion of said elements being downwardly positioned for spacing said body member in increasing amount from the face of the wearer from said lower edge upwardly.

4. An eye shield comprising a transparent sheet material body portion having a notch in its lower edge to engage about the nose of the wearer and with its lower edges on opposite sides of 'said notch shaped to engage with the wearers face beneath the eyes, means engaging the body portion adjacent to opposite ends for securing the eye shield to the head of the wearer, wedge shaped elements carried by said body portion of in position to space the upper margin of said body portion from the face of the wearer.

5. An eye shield comprising a transparent sheet material body portion having a notch in its lower edge to engage about the nose of the wearer and with its lower edges on opposite sides of said notch shaped to engage with the wearers face beneath the eyes, means engaging said body portion adjacent to its side edges for securing the tion comprising a pair of side parts hinged together on an axis substantially in line with the apex of said notch to be folded together about said axis, and a spacer block secured to the upper'portion of said body at said hinge and overlying both of said side parts when said side parts are unfolded and said eye shield is in use to be held by said side parts extending rearwardly and 10 supporting the upper margins of said body mem-- her at opposite sides of said block spaced from the wearers head.

6. An eye shield comprising a transparent sheet material body portion having a notch in its low- 15 er edge to engage about the nose of the wearer and with its lower edges on opposite sides of said notch shaped to engage with the wearers face beneath the eyes, means engaging the body portion adjacent to opposite ends for securing the 20 eye shield to the head of the wearer, an element secured to and projecting rearwardly from the inner face of said bodyportion adjacent the upper edge thereof, said element being of substantially less width laterally than the lateral width of said.

on either side of said element, and means for re-.

movably securing said spacing element to said 30 body portion.

GRAY MILLER, JR. 

